Summer Forest
by Fencedude
Summary: As Yuuta and Rikka face their own demons, Nibutani Shinka finds herself in bed with her greatest rival. As morning breaks on the beginning of a new love, she thinks back on the events that shaped her. Yuri, Femslash, F/F, etc etc.


**Now**

Nibutani Shinka's nose itched. The thought slowly percolated through her unconscious mind, slowly rousing her from the depths of sleep. Late morning sunlight streamed through her window, causing her to squint her eyes even as she struggled to keep them open. Her nose still itched and she could feel something sticking to her face. Her right hand brushed at it, it was...hair? Lifting it up and struggling to focus her eyes, she found herself looking at strands of long, ash-blonde hair, not the slightly wavy mousey-brown of her own hair. It was then that a slight moan and movement alerted her to the fact that she wasn't alone in the bed. In fact, someone else was snuggled right up against her, their head laying in the crook of her left arm. Looking over to her side, she saw she was sharing the bed with a very naked Dekomori Sanae, and that she herself was just as naked. Shinka slightly groaned to herself. "Oh man, not again."

**Two Years Ago**

Three pairs of hands held the Ouija Board's indicator. "It's moving!" Suzuki's exclamation cut through the darkness. The room was lit only by a few candles laid around the board.

"Be quiet Suzuki!" Shinka was concentrating hard on the indicator. This had been her idea, after all. The indicator _was_ moving however. It moved down the board, finally hovering over one of the words at the bottom 'Hello'. A squeak was bit off to her other side, Satou. "We did it! We contacted the spirits!" Shinka spoke softly to her friends. "Lets take turns asking questions." Satou and Suzuki's candlit faces looked a bit wan, but they nodded. "Are you really a spirit?" Shinka asked the question clearly, if quietly. The three middle school girls placed their hands back on the indicator, the "planchette" and concentrated hard. It started to move again, up the board, past the numbers, past the letters, coming to rest with the word "Yes" indicated.

It was Satou's turn. "Spirit, what is the secret to magic?" Down to the letters...R...E...Z...U..."Rezu?" Satou read them aloud, confused. "What is that?" Shinka felt her cheeks flush, she knew what that meant. Did the spirit really mean they should...? But it was now Suzuki's turn.

"Spirit, do elves exist?" The indicator moved back up, resting once again on 'yes'. But then it started to move again, down to the bottom of the board, finally stopping on 'Goodbye'. The spirit had left. The three girls looked at each other in the candle light, wondering about the strange messages they'd been sent. Satou blew out the candles as Suzuki stood up and turned on the lights. They were in her room. Her parents were gone for the weekend, they'd decided she was old enough to stay home alone for two nights, and had approved her bringing Satou and Shinka over as well.

They spent the rest of the night playing other divining games, Tarot and the like, gossiping, telling each other stories of their occult discoveries. Suzuki's parents had left money to order pizza, once it arrived Suzuki brought something else out. A bottle of saké. "Don't worry, my dad has tons of these, he won't miss this one." After struggling to get the cork out, much to Shinka and Satou's amusement, she poured them each a bit, in tiny glasses she'd also produced from somewhere. The three looked at the clear liquid, Shinka picked up hers and sniffed, recoiling a bit. She swallowed hard and then glanced at her friends. They also picked up their glasses. "Alright, on three." It was Suzuki's idea, so she was taking the lead. "One. Two. Three!" they each downed the sake, and nearly gagged on how strong it was. Suzuki poured some more, and they did it again. It tasted...less bad this time. They finished off the pizza, with several more shots of saké each along the way. By the time they finished eating they were well and thoroughly drunk.

"Hey...girls..." Shinka burped, causing Satou and Suzuki to burst out into peals of laughter, "lets...lets..." she was swaying back and forth, it was hard to think, "...lets take a bath!" Satou and Suzuki were still giggling like mad, but nodded, Suzuki leading the others to the bathroom. It was more than big enough for all three to go in at once. They started stripping down, and stripping each other. Suzuki unhooked Shinka's bra, and immediately grabbed at her breasts.

"Ohhh...what have you been hiding from us, Mori Summer! Shinka'd started developing early, and already had what were probably the biggest breasts in her grade. She was more than a bit self-conscious about it. Suzuki started massaging her breasts, a wave of pleasure started to push the alcohol induced fog out of her head.

"Aaa...aaahh...stop it...Suuuzuuukiiiiiiii!" she broke away from the girl's hands and rushed into the bathing area. The other two followed, and they set to work rinsing and scrubbing down. They washed each other's backs, Suzuki mostly keeping her hands to herself. They then got into the main bath to soak. Shinka was hardly unused to seeing other girls naked, but between the pleasant feeling of someone touching her breasts, and what the Ouija board had spelled out, not to mention the alcohol, she was starting to see her friends a bit differently from before.

They got out of the bath and wrapped towels around themselves, heading back to Suzuki's room. Suzuki stopping by the dining room and grabbing the bottle of saké. Not bothering to get dressed, they continued drinking, by this point thinking the sake tasted pretty good. Shinka was well and truly smashed at this point, but oddly it seemed to bring some clarity. She sat there in her towel, looking at her two friends. A bead of water dripped from Satou's hair, over her collarbone, into her (still budding) cleavage. Shinka could feel a warmth between her legs. She got on her hands and knees, moving towards Satou. "Hey...Shinka...what are you..." Satou was cut off as Shinka pushed her down. Shinka pulled Satou's towel away, revealing the girl's body. For the first time Shinka looked at a naked girl and actually saw them. She took in the curve of her hips, the swell of her breasts, still developing, nowhere near what Shinka herself had. Another quick motion and her own towel was gone. She lowered herself onto Satou's body, feeling the other girl's still damp skin on her own. Their breasts touched, and Shinka realized she was in heaven. She lowered her head down and kissed Satou square on the lips. The other girl tensed up, but then relaxed, returning the kiss. They broke, Shinka pushing herself up a bit. Suddenly she was shoved onto her back, as Suzuki straddled her body.

"Aaaahh...this looks fuuunnnn." A stupid grin was all over Suzuki's face, as she grabbed Shinka's breasts and started fondling them again. Shinka could feel wetness spreading on her belly, not from the shower, but from Suzuki herself. Satou had pulled herself off the floor, and sat herself facing Suzuki, leaning forward and kissing her. Shinka looked up at the two girls kissing above her. She truly was in heaven.

**Now**

Shinka remembered the next morning. That had been...awkward. Both Satou and Suzuki seemed mortified when they regained consciousness, still completely naked, their arms and legs all intertwined. They'd never really spoken about it since then, and afterwards they'd started to drift away from Shinka. Shinka, however, had had a true awakening. She'd wondered why she could never get excited about talk of boys or other similar gossip, but after that night, she found herself absolutely entranced by girls. She wrote about it in secret posts on her blog, cataloging the most attractive girls in school. "I guess that makes me a bit of a hypocrite, doesn't it?" She thought to herself, considering the way she'd raked the boys in her class over the coals for the same thing. Next to her Sanae muttered something unintelligible, and snuggled even closer. She'd stay in bed a little while longer, this was surprisingly pleasant. Shinka closed her eyes again and her mind drifted back...

**One Year Ago**

Shinka shifted nervously as she tried to avoid looking too hard at the building across the street. It didn't look like much, just a standard multistory building with several offices and shops. What she was trying to not look at was the dark entryway off to the side, leading down to the basement. Above the stairs was a neon sign, not large, reading "Club Lily" in graceful pink script. She'd heard about it online. She was shocked to learn there was a lesbian bar just one town over. She was even more surprised when she was told how to get in, even though she was very much underage. Finally she steeled her nerves and crossed the street.

She was wearing a cropped tank top, a size or two too small. She'd grown quite a bit in the last year, seeming like she had to buy new shirts and bras every three months to keep up. Not that she was wearing a bra right now, the undersized shirt clung to her breasts, showing them off almost flamboyantly. It was pretty embarrassing, but she wanted to be noticed. Well, noticed in the bar. The train trip over was nerve-wracking, she could feel male eyes all over her. The miniskirt she was wearing didn't help either, but she made it to the city with no incidents, and hopefully dressing like a tramp would have the desired effect.

The sun was already setting, its last golden rays casting deep shadow across the street. She descended the stairs, at the bottom was a metal door with a small window, closed by a sliding panel. Taking a breath, she rapped on the door with her knuckles. The panel slid open, a deep female voice spoke over the music she could now hear. "What do you want?"

This was it, time to find out if this was all a fool's errand or not. Deep breath, voice steady, "a bud blooms, searching for the sun". The panel slid shut, Shinka stopped breathing for a moment. The door opened, the woman standing behind it was enormous, towering over the middle schooler. She was dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt, her dark hair cropped close. Shinka must have been staring because the woman laughed quietly and spoke.

"Yes yes, I'm the spitting image of a butch. All you young fems can't help but stare, can you?" Shinka felt her cheeks heating, embarrassment both for thinking just that and for the frank use of the terms. "How old are you, young lady? Now tell the truth, you lie and you'll get kicked out, permanently." Shinka gulped a bit.

"Fi...Fifteen" She felt absurdly young all of a sudden. What was she doing here? This was wrong. She...her thoughts were cut off when the woman spoke again, and she felt her wrist being grabbed.

"Here's how it works. You'll wear this wristband," the woman had already strapped a neon-yellow paper bracelet onto Shinka's wrist, "it means no alcohol for you. Got it?" Shinka nodded, "we try to keep a nice clientele, but there are some people here that you shouldn't associate with, if you try to leave with one I _will_ step in. Don't worry too much about it, but one of the conditions of letting you girls in here is to make sure you stay safe." Shinka nodded again, not really sure what she should say. "Oh, and one more thing, a bit of personal advice, if you will." She leaned down closer to Shinka's ear and spoke much more quietly, "while the eye candy is nice, you don't need to dress like a street-walker, next time wear something a bit more elegant, ok?" Shinka could feel her face turn beet red, and the bouncer laughed again. "Head on in, and have fun."

Shinka stepped into the club, along one side was the bar, tended by a woman in her 40s and a couple of younger bartenders, all dressed in, of all things, formal tuxedos, minus the jackets. Against the back wall was a stage, where a band was playing live music. The band had five members, all female. They looked college age or so. The singer had long black hair and deep purple eyes, she had both hands on the microphone in front of her, belting out the lyrics, a bass guitar hung around her shoulders, currently unused. Two other guitarists shared the front of the stage, one with lanky brown hair cut just above her shoulders, the other had dark hair tied up in twintails, her eyes an enticing ruby-red. Behind them was a drummer, brown hair held out of her eyes by a yellow headband and a keyboardist with long blonde hair and crystal clear blue eyes. For a moment Shinka thought the keyboardist looked right at her, but that must be her imagination.

She made her way to the bar, as the pop-rock song washed over her. _You're an sensitivity-conscious teenager but your heart troubles you, By beating fast and thrashing about so easily_. Shinka winced a bit, those lyrics hit home a bit too hard. _Life's a very Sweet & Bitter Beauty Song_. The song continued as she walked up to an empty spot along the bar. One of the younger bartenders was closest and turned towards her. "How can I help you, young lady?", Shinka was so startled by the use of "Ojou-sama" that she momentarily forgot what she was going to order. The bartender must have noticed and grinned. "Oh, thats just an affectation of the owner," she nodded at the older woman Shinka had seen earlier, "she insists we treat you girls nicely." The bartender, who had shoulder length red hair and eyes to match, gestured at the bracelet on Shinka's wrist. "So what'll you have?" The girl's grin was infectious, making Shinka feel much more at ease.

"Oh, I'll have a cold Oolong Tea, if you have it." She didn't even know what you could order at a bar other than alcohol, but that seemed like a nice bet. She pulled herself into the stool nearby.

"Coming right up!" The girl grabbed a tumbler and some ice, pulling a condensation covered pitcher from under the bar. "So what's your name? I'm Minori." She finished pouring and slid the glass to Shinka.

Shinka took a drink, her mouth suddenly dry. "Sh...Shinka, Minori-san"

Minori laughed at that. "Just Minori is fine, or Minorin if you are feeling friendly." She looked around briefly then leaned closer "don't get too friendly though, Amin might notice and she's the jealous type."

"Amin's the what type, Kushieda?" Shinka gulped as another girl appeared behind Minori. She had long blue hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"Why Amin! I was just telling Shinka-chan here what a wonderful girlfriend you are and..." Minori suddenly looked to the side. "Oh look at that, someone needs a refill, I'll go take care of that." The redhead dashed off, leaving a bewildered Shinka and an exasperated Ami.

"So are..." Shinka stopped and took a sip, as Ami looked over at her. "Are you two actually...?" she felt her cheeks flush red again. Dammit.

Ami crossed her arms and sighed. "As much as I sometimes would like to deny all knowledge of her, yes, we are." She looked over at the younger girl, who's face seemed to be on the verge of turning into a tomato. "We've been together since the last year of highschool. We're working here to help fund our way through college, since there were...issues, with our families. Ami gave Shinka a bit of a crooked smile. "I have quite a bit of money to my name though, so it's not so bad." She noticed Shinka had finished her Tea, and poured another. "So are you sure? Or are you just curious?"

Shinka hadn't realized she'd finished the tea till Ami poured more, but she didn't touch it as she thought over the older girl's question. "No, I'm sure. I...have a bit of experience, but I don't have anyone I'm particular interested in. I just know I like girls." She looked up at Ami, whose expression was surprisingly gentle, "is that weird of me?"

"Not at all, in fact thats the case for most people, gay or straight. You'll love who you love, when you find them. For now just have fun, and don't worry too much about it." A voice from further down the bar called out. "Well, duty calls. If you want to talk some more, well, thats one reason Bartenders exist." Ami gave Shinka a smile and a pat on the hand, then left to go attend to other customers. Shinka continued to stare down into her tea for a while, not even noticing that someone had slid into the stool next to hers until they spoke.

"I know some people try to find comfort in the bottom of a glass, but I think that might be a bit much to ask of an Oolong Tea, no?" Shinka looked up, finding herself entranced by what she saw. Clear purple eyes, long blue-black hair held back by a white headband. Large breasts showing just a hint of cleavage from a thigh-length black dress, with elegant black heels completing the picture. Easily one of the most beautiful girls...woman, she'd ever seen. Then she noticed the neon band around their wrist. She was underage? Impossible! "Yes yes, I know. Impossible that a mere high-school student could be so beautiful." She flipped her hand dismissively, "I get it all the time, from men and women." Shinka had barely opened her mouth to say exactly that, she snapped her mouth shut since she realized she was gaping. "Oh you are just too cute. Come on, lets dance."

The dark-haired beauty basically pulled Shinka off the stool and onto the dance floor. From then the night became a blur of music and light, bodies in motion, seemingly never stopping. What had to be hours later, the girl led her back to the bar. Shinka sat gratefully on the stool, even with the comfortable wedge sandals she was wearing her feet hurt like crazy, how was her mysterious partner doing all this in pumps? "Well if it isn't Irisu-chan." Ami's voice cut through Shinka's exhaustion. Irisu, her name was Irisu. "I see you've found our newest kitten, though you've thoroughly worn her out already." Shinka thought she was blushing, but it was too hard to tell due to how heated the dancing had made her. "You doing ok, Shinka-chan?" Shinka looked up at the bartender and smiled.

"I'll have the usual, one for her too." Ami gave her a wink and started her preparations. Irisu turned to Shinka, "I guess we should properly introduce ourselves. My name is Irisu, Fuyumi Irisu."

"Shinka...Nibutani Shinka." Shinka tried to do a half bow but it looked pretty silly doing that on a barstool. Ami returned with two glasses, filled with ice and a fizzing, pink-colored drink. She took a sip, it was cool and refreshing, with a taste of...cherries?

Irisu took a deep drink and then sighed. "You really do make the best Shirley Temples, Ami-chan."

"I don't know how much of a compliment that actually is, but thank you." Ami left the two alone with their drinks.

"So, Shinka-chan. Why exactly did you decide to dress like a cheap prostitute?" Shinka suddenly wished she could shrink into the bar stool itself.

"I...I...uhh...was hoping to get picked up..." she squeaked out the words as she desperately tried to avoid dying of embarrassment.

"Well, I'll say this, it was successful, but there's no need to dress like a whore, even if I do appreciate the view. Shinka felt like she was going to die as she realized that the taller girl could see right down her shirt. She couldn't let that go, she had to get some of her own back.

"You're not exactly hiding much yourself, Irisu-_chan_", staring intently at the older girl's very noticeable bosom. Irisu let loose a peal of laughter.

"Oh you are definitely far too cute for your own good." She sat her drink down and leaned towards Shinka, kissing her square on the lips. Shinka felt like the world had gone completely silent. Until she realized that it _had_. Irisu held the kiss, Shinka finally reciprocating. After what felt like forever, but couldn't have been more than a minute, Irisu broke the kiss. One beat. Two beats. Then what seemed like the entire bar burst into applause. If Shinka thought she was going to die of embarrassment before, now she was sure. There was no way a human being could survive this much mortification. She opened her eyes, expecting to see Irisu laughing, but instead she was looking at her with an unbelievable kindness. "Come on, one last dance then let's go, ok?"

Irisu led her to the dance floor, the crowd parting to let them through. Up on the stage the brunette guitarist was sitting on a chair, holding an acoustic guitar. The twintailed guitarist was adjusting one of the microphone stands downwards, when she finished she leaned down to whisper something to the brunette, then gave her a kiss on the cheek and skipped off the stage. The brunette started to play, a slow ballad, its lyrics about finding happiness with the one you love. Shinka and Irisu danced alone in the middle of the dance floor. The moment was magical, but finally ended. Irisu led her off the dance floor and towards the exit. As they passed the bouncer, the large woman gave them a smile, opening the door into the clear night.

Shinka didn't remember the trip to the love hotel, as far as she could remember she was a bed with Irisu, making love. This wasn't like that frenzied night with her friends. Fumbling and inexperienced, with regrets forming the next day. This was passionate and loving. Shinka was brought to heights of passion she'd never dreamed of, and learned things that just looking at images could never have taught. It was very late by the time they fell asleep.

When dawn came, they woke softly. Irisu stood, her body backlit by the sunlight streaming in through the white curtains. Shinka sat up, taking in the beautiful sight. But as beautiful as Irisu was, as much as she was perhaps the perfect example of Japanese beauty, Shinka didn't love her. She liked her, for sure. She enjoyed making love to her, and would do it again at a moment's notice...but she wasn't _in love_ with her. She felt something wet on her face, she realized she was crying. Irisu took a tissue and gently wiped the tears away, then sat on the bed next to her, stroking her head.

**Now**

Shinka opened her eyes again. She'd been back to Club Lily half a dozen times since then, it was hard to come up with excuses for her parents, but she did her best. She'd only had one more night with Irisu, but they stayed in touch online. She looked down at the girl in her arms, hard to come up with someone less like Fuyumi Irisu than Dekomori Sanae, but perhaps thats one of the reasons she loved Sanae, but didn't love Irisu. Those nights with Irisu had been invaluable however, and now she was the teacher. Sanae started to talk again, this time Shinka could make out the words. "...where do...touching...more...Fake Mori Summer..."

"Fake Mori Summer, eh? Well she wants more..." Shinka turned a bit in the bed, so she could get her right arm over towards Sanae. Reaching down the girl's body she found what she was looking for, and pushed her index finger in. Sanae's breathing suddenly turned into moans, she started to writhe in the bed, and finally her eyes flew open as she orgasmed. Amber eyes stared into sky blue eyes. "Morning!"

**The Day Before**

"They don't exist!"

"I...I...I know that."

"I KNOOOOOW THAAAAAT"

Shinka leaned up against the station's wall, listening to the drama on the platform. She cursed that idiot Yuuta. If he and Rikka wanted to screw up their lives, that was one thing, but they had no right to bring down others with them. Sanae's screaming of those three words was getting louder...she must be running this way. Shinka stepped away from the wall and braced herself. Her positioning was perfect as 40 kilograms of crying girl and 5 kilograms worth of hair slammed into her. She let out a bit of an oomph at the impact, she didn't weight that much more than Sanae, and the girl had been running at a good clip as she came around the corner. Sanae already had her arms wrapped around Shinka, and was crying into her chest. Shinka realized the girl was getting tears and snot all over her jacket.

"Oh you are such a mess." She muttered as she pulled out a handkerchief and started wiping the younger girl's face. When she was no longer dripping, Shinka put her arms around the girl and held her. The second time in two days she'd done this. Finally the tears tapered off. "You ok to go home by yourself?" Shinka looked into those two brilliant blue eyes, still wet with tears. Sanae shook her head back and forth. Shinka sighed. "Alright, want to come home with me for the night?" She nodded.

Shinka bundled the girl onto the train, which was thankfully rather empty, since Sanae refused to let go of Shinka's arm, she wouldn't even let her sit down. The same on the walk from the station to Shinka's house, but again luckily few people were about. Very luckily Shinka's parents weren't home, in fact, they'd be gone until the next evening. Shinka thought they were getting pretty suspicious of her, she'd probably have to deal with that soon. Oh well, one thing at a time. Once inside Shinka's room, she finally managed to detach Sanae from her arm, sitting her down at the low table. Shinka left to go get something to drink, coming back with a couple of cans of Oolong Tea. She sat one in front of Sanae, then sat herself down on the opposite side of the table. "Do you want to talk about it?" Sanae shook her head.

Shinka sighed to herself. "Ok then, I'll just start talking, feel free to stop me whenever." She opened her can of tea and took a drink. "First of all, you love Rikka, and not just as a friend." Sanae twitched a bit at that. "Secondly, you knew she wasn't interested in girls, yet you stuck with her, so you're also a good friend." No more reaction. "Finally, you know I'm a lesbian." That got a reaction, Sanae's head snapped up, her eyes wide. "Of course you do, you had to, if you had the writings of 'Mori Summer'. I spilled way too much there, including that night with my friends, and about Club Lily. Thats the real reason I wanted the Mabinogion back, of course. I'm not ashamed of being who I am, but it causes...problems. One reason I transferred schools is that too many knew at my old middle school, and it was becoming dangerously close to my parents learning." She stopped and took a long drink of her tea. "Now, there is one thing I know for a fact you don't know." Shinka paused looking Sanae over. The younger girl's tears had stopped, and she was now looking more wary than anything else. Perhaps wondering if stepping into her 'Rival's' lair was a good idea. The poor girl had no idea. "And that is that I love you." Sanae had just picked up her can of Oolong Tea, which proceeded to fall from her hands and tip over.

**Now**

"That was the least romantic love confession ever. I expected more of Mori Summer." Sanae and Shinka, after going another round in bed, had finally gotten themselves up and were now eating breakfast, or more accurately lunch, in Shinka's kitchen. Shinka reached over and poked Sanae in the cheek.

"I thought you agreed not to call me that in private? You'd better remember that, especially if you want more sex."

"Fine fine! Shinka." Sanae barely stumbled over the name. "What are we going to do about school?"

"You mean the two of us?" Sanae nodded. "We'll just have to play things by ear. By the way has anyone ever told you that with your hair down you are the prettiest girl in the world?"

**To be Continued?**

* * *

****_So thats that. I don't know if there will be more, if so, I'll go up as a separate story. This pretty much came to me over the last few days. I know it may not be to everyone's taste, but hey. Also I hope I didn't overdo it on the cameos, but it was either that or OCs, and I didn't feel confident doing that. I hope you understand.  
_


End file.
